great pics j.

love how you did the stone circles around the trees- very pretty.
what cherry varieties do you have on the tree? i assume thats self grafted? have they produced yet? will want to swap scions with you next march. i bought a 4 four in one cherry tree from ranier last spring- it has early burlat, kristin, lapin, ranier. it has bloomed quite nicely this year. do you spray anything to prvent fungal diseases on your cherry tree?

love how you decapitated your apple tree. u sure as hell dont f around. please post pics of that tree at the end of the summer- will be very interesting to see how the grafts have grown.

very cool that you have some longans going on. r these your furst fruit?
will def want a puece of hawaii scion next march.

Nice, Looks like you will be getting to try lots of fruit this year. I hope the mango holds a bunch of fruit for you this year. Maybe your cogshall with throw out more blooms.

Very, very nice.....actually, I am jealous of your yard. I would love to grow some of the temperate fruits, especially cherries. I love cherries. Thanks for posting the pics.

Harry

It looks like a jungle with all those plants next to each other. Love the pic

I love your longans and bananas. How on earth did you get your banana to fruit? Is it not cold in Ohio during the winter? *scratching head* Or is your banana in the greenhouse? I would love to see a pic of your greenhouse from the outside and more from the inside too! And is that a dragonfruit I see hanging? I sure am envious! You've done a fantastic job.
Happy Tropical fruit growing!!
Bo

Great post :-)

Thanks all...Ger...will get back to you on the cherry varieties. I bought the plant that way.

Bo...yes...all that stuff at the end is inside the greenhouse, including the bananas. Here is a link to all the photos if you are interested. Thanks, J
http://s23.photobucket.com/home/ohiojay/allalbums

Hello Jay,
Looks like all the time and dedication you have for your little greenhouse has paid off. Man, djust thinkin back on how you said it was a b**** to move tropicals out for the summer, now I see why! How long have you had the mango tree? Mine are going on year 2 and the julie got pretty beat up this winter. I have all my tropicals outside now, and I had a hell of a time doing it. I wonder how many of us northern growers end up like me having to have a disc replacement! I need to hurry up and get a house of my own so I can build something similiar. Beautifull greenhouse Jay! When it's time for me to build something similiar I will have to get a hold of you and check yours out. How are you mangosteens? I think my biggest triumph right now is my Meyer lemon. No leaf drop and lots of fruit. Also my firt year that I have plumeria blooming! Very happy with that. Well enjoy the fruits of your labor!
Andrew

Great pics Jay. Everything looks great. I'm starting to feel the pressure to take some pics of everything around the house now.

Great pix and nice job. I always get good ideas and info on this site. You Northern tropical fruit growers really impress me!
Looks like I should prune my Grumichama- mine is large, but had 1 bloom so far this year. Not good. I was hoping the taste better than you described :-(

I think you need to come to my place and show me how to graft like you do. That apple tree is impressive!
When you head this way, maybe you can bring some cuttings with you...?!

Ohio- good to see you're back. Is your greenhouse full yet? lol. You have so many trees too. I love your longan. Where did and when did you get your pawpaw? Do you have two trees for pollination? Maybe you can try to use the cherimoya flowers to pollinate since they are from the same family. I also have sunflower and PA golden pawpaw. I just got them this year so they're pretty small.

Thanks for sharing pics of your much populated greenhouse. You have some really nice tropical fruit trees. I don't think I'd ever leave the house if I had all those beautiful plants in a greenhouse likes yours!
Bo

Jay,

Hang in there with the Pawpaw. We just got back from Purdue where we heard son #1 in the Percussion Ensemble show, and while we were killing time waiting for the show, we took one of their tree walks. Dirr talks about a 40' Halesia tetraptera somewhere at Purdue in the manual. Never found it. However, did find a Pawpaw in full bloom. Very impressive. And it wasn't any place you would expect given where you find it in the wild. It was full sun, in sort of raised berm right up against a street. That and a freakin gorgeous 30-35' Acer griseum were the highlights.

I'm pouring the water and fert to my Namwah in the hopes of seeing bananas like that. Very nice.

I lost all of my Cogshalls, too.

Got the grafted pawpaws from http://www.nolinnursery.com/
Good sized plants. I wouldn't recommend running them over with a truck but use Puglvr's method of pruning instead! The plant actually has a much better canopy as a result. Both trees were planted in full sun and have done just fine. I think it's another one of those..."it's that way in the wild, it should be the same in your yard" tales. They are understory trees in the woods because they grow so much slower than most other trees. Most of the ones I've seen in our parks here are very tall, thin, and only have limited foliage at the very top. And very few blooms if any. A friend here at work has a boatload of acres and has tons of pawpaws growing all over his property. They are good in a banana bread-like way but have a serious aftertaste that turned me off. But he has so many trees out there, there is bound to be at least one that produces a quality fruit. I keep trying to get him to do taste tests and keep notes. I do have two trees but the other is lagging behind. Both are supposed to be "able" to produce fruit without another tree but I'm sure it would be a benefit. I am currently hand pollinating. We'll see if my earlier observations concerning the flower stages prove correct. I really want to taste one and it will determine how much effort I put into future pollination!

I did use some pawpaw pollen on a cherimoya and sugar apple female. I marked each. None of the females I've hand pollinated so far have taken. Unlikely it will with pawpaw pollen. Yesterday I was finally able to secure pollen from a cherimoya male before it dropped. We'll see. Would be nice to get at least one fruit.

Gwenn, I keep hearing stories on how tough PR is about material coming in or going out. If there is something in particular, it might be a better chance of mailing the cuttings instead! Bryan Brunner says the grumichama can be pruned and kept in any shaped desired. This has been my experience so far as well. I prune the plant harshly quite often and as you can see, I now keep it in a sort of barrel-like shape. The plant occupied that entire corner all the way to the ceiling one winter...had to tame the beast. A very attractive tree. The fruit is good, but just not great. If I had a yard in Florida or PR, I would absolutely grow it and keep it. For my greenhouse? It is slipping off the priority list.

SB...I seldom get into a good fertilizing schedule with the bananas...good intentions and all but... My wife read the other day to thin the newly emerging bananas some to allow the rest to expand and reach a good size. I can see this point. Many hands are so tightly packed that the bananas seldom reach a normal size. So just keep this in the back of your mind when it does fruit.

Hey Ohiojay, great pics of the trees you have. I love your yard too, the trees are all growing nicely and the trees are very well spaced. I can't believe all the tropicals you have growing indoors! I thought it was difficult enough moving my single lychee tree around the yard.

Jay,
Very nice pics. I am more interested in those trees growing outside your greenhouse. I wish I could grow such nice cherries, apples, peaches, and plums here. Is that a strawberry bed in the pic with your cherry tree? Any of your neighbors also growing fruit trees outdoors?

Yes...strawberries. A few neighbors have a fruit tree. One has a pear they completely let go. Another has the largest and sweetest cherries and the tree is enormous! It sprawls over the fence into one of my neighbors yards. Fair game as far as I'm concerned. I've never once seen the family pick a single cherry from the tree! It just becomes black with the number of cherries on the tree. Sad. I may do an "after midnight" ninja-like snatch and grab this year before all the birds feast. I'm wondering if I can get the extension ladder up in there from our side without seriously busting my a$$.

Very nice! It always amazes me to see pics of greenhouse ftuit trees and while my veggies season is coming to an end yours is just starting.

I'm always astounded that people would have fully thriving, high quality, fruit trees in their yards, yet never pick the fruit. That is simply a travesty! They would prefer to go to the grocery store to BUY inferior commercial cultivars. Those poor clueless saps.

Jay, sounds like you need to steal a little budwood from that cherry tree. You could probably just pick up some cheap flowering cherry and use that for grafting. I wish I could get fruiting cherries to grow down here. The Rainier cherries may even beat mangoes on my favorite fruit list. The flowering ones do ok in my area but the fruiting ones supposedly don't. I may still try them one of these days if I can find a multigrafted tree.

I'm with you on the Ranier Cherries, John.....well, they are up there anyway, maybe not quite better than mango or lychee.....but definitely up there.

Harry

Jay,

I just read on the cherimoya.com that a cherimoya can not be breed with a pawpaw.

Here is a link that might be useful: Definition of variety and species

Ch3rri...I was figuring as much myself but I had plenty of pollen and weirder things have happened!

The Ranier are pretty darn good...very expensive too!

Beautiful as always Jay, no ghost peppers going? Is your wax jambu the white or green type?

where is your fruiting mangosteen picture?

-Ethan

Ohio-
Have you ate mangoes from your trees in the past? I'd love to get a mango to fruit for me. Would be an awesome feat. Nice looking plants.

I'm growing Lapins/Stella/Kristin/Red Gold sweet cherries here, and all our currently in bloom. One thing about cherry trees (sweet) are the blooms are very fragrant, best of all my fruit trees.

Tough growing cherries, need to cover for birds and watch the rain, because they like to crack.

Ethan...ghost chilis going! I have a big one from last year producing a lot of pods. Earlier ones were very weak in heat to the point of embarrassment. I would add a couple to a quart of my salsa and nothing!

Apparently the plant is maturing as is the heat. I have not slipped into a mental state myself to actually consuming a portion of a chili. I've added the chili puree to mustard, which is very good on brats.

A guy at work sliced up one and sauteed it with onions to put on his grilled hamburgers. He is a heat fanatic and this was his first time going for the milk jug to cut the heat.

Another guy at work and a friend started eating very very thin slices of the chili taking turns daring each other. He confirmed that it was "freaking hot". His buddy, God only knows what he was thinking, grabbed about 1/2 the chili and gobbled it down. I guess he zoned out for a minute or two and then just turned away and yakked it up! His system completely rejected it!

So I suppose the plant is finally coming into its own. Maybe it's time for another try at the salsa.

Wax jambu variety is called Inyen. Got it from Frankies. The fruit is red and sweet. Early trials show promise but still waiting for the fruit to go full term. Fruiting mangosteen? Naw...that only happens in New Jersey man! Actually, my plant and I are doing everything in our power to keep it recovering from the thrips and my battle to control them. Two nice flushes have been destroyed before they were able to emerge.

Frank...yes...we've eaten mangos from the tree.

Thanks all.

Jay,
Did you grow your cherimoya from seed and then grafted it with diffrent varieties? Have you had any fruit? If so were they better than sugar apple fruit?
Andrew

Great pictures Jay! Love your yard and your greenhouse! Sorry about your Cogshall mango. I'm curious to see if any of mine will hold too...since it was very late to bloom because of our extremely cold weather.

Thanks for the wonderful pics!

Andrew...my cherimoya was grown from seed a few years or so ago. Last year I attempted several grafts onto the plant with four different varieties. Only two were successful and one of those, Pierce, is blooming for the first time this year. It only has a few blooms left, so if the ones I've tried to pollinate don't take, then I won't be trying any this year.

I have tasted fresh from the tree before when a kind soul shipped me several fruit from his trees. There is really no comparison to what I've found in the store.

Better than a sugar apple? Comparisons to date would have to go with cherimoya. Several factors come into play for me, not just taste. Size of fruit/flesh ratio to seeds is a big one for me. I think this is a big shortcoming of sugar apples...IMHO. The last for me is the plant itself. My cherimoya plant is a much better looking plant and doesn't have any of the issues, so far, as I have with the SA's. Sitting down with a large, good cherimoya is heavenly. When there is no mangosteens, longkong, and lychees available, a good cherimoya will ease the spirit.

anyone have any first hand experience with growing Cherimoya in South Florida (10b)?

im tempted to try and grow a fino de jete in a container.

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Since everyone has been talking about cherimoya, I went to the Asian store and bought one. It was sweet and kind of bland. I am thinking it probably wasn't at its best. There was about 60 seeds in that one fruit! If anyone wants some seeds, just email me.
Bo

Bryan:

I've tried growing cherimoya a couple of times....never successfully. The trees didn't like the flooding is my theory for their decline and eventual death...but that's not conclusive.

Harry

maybe grafting onto a pond or sugar apple or even atemoya might work?

-Ethan

Jay, Your yard looks as great as your greenhouse. I was not aware that your interest stretched to "conventional fruit" too :) I love how you made the decorative stone circles around your trees in the lawn. I am definitely going to steal your design!
May I ask you a related question? I am planning on putting trees in the lawn too (similar to your plum and cherry planting) as I am running out of space in the yard. I am wondering if you use any "Weed and Feed" kind of products on your very healthy looking grass? I am asking because I worry that those products might kill my fruit tree planted in middle of the lawn. I am planning to mulch a wide circle around them. If you use lawn weed control products or lawn fertilizer, could you let me know if you have noticed any side effects on your trees? thanks!

Mango kush, I know Lisa who comes here sometimes said she has one that does well for her down there. If you do a search for her name and cherimoya you could probably find the thread. I am in zone 9a and they seem to be doing fine so far.

Ashley...most of the weed and feed act on contact. I've never had an issue with any applications...when I get around to it.

Just be careful with any of the spray type applications. They can cause problems. I mistook a bottle of this that goes onto the garden hose and started spraying down plants on the patio. I didn't realize until I was finished that it was weed killer, not insecticide as I thought. Needless to say, there were sad days ahead. Lesson learned about patience and pulling your head out of your a$$ when messing with this stuff.